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Mechanic to check out used car

  • 08-10-2008 10:09am
    #1
    PaddyofNine
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 348 ✭✭


    I'm going looking at a used car this evening. Normally my mate who knows a bit about cars comes with me but he's not available today. This car I'm looking at needs an NCT so I'd need someone who knows what they're doing. Can I pay a mechanic to come with me and give her the once over? How much would it be?


Comments

  • #2
    dr.bollocko
    Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 35,945 Mod ✭✭✭✭dr.bollocko


    It normally shouldnt cost that much (50 bucks the last time I did it) but you still want a guy you can trust. Is there not a similar car available that has an NCT? It really is a buyers market at the moment.


  • #3
    Darragh29
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,097 ✭✭✭Darragh29


    Just some advice OP, if it hasn't got an NCT, put a deposit on it and tell the seller you'll proceed with the transaction when it has an NCT. I've seen more people coming into my garage with stories about buying privately and being told that everything was grand, only to go for the test and theres an emissions problem or undeside rust problem and then you're into hundreds of Euro to sort these out.

    You can get an NCT in a week if you can take a cancellation and are prepared to ring them just after 8AM and just before 8PM. Their number is 1890 412 413, all you need is the reg number and the name and address of the current owner, ask for a cancellation and you should get one within a few days.

    Any mechanic can look at the car for you but if it hasn't got an NCT, unless he/she can check emissions, they can't clear the car for you from an NCT perspective. Same is broadly true for suspension and brake imbalance.

    Just an example, I had a customer who bought a car with no NCT on the understanding that "everything is grand, I've looked after it". It turned out that the adjustment mechanisms for both headlamps had been damaged by someone trying to adjust the beam with the wrong type of tool, someone had basically used a philips screwdriver to adjust a headlamp instead of an allen key and had distroyed the adjustment screw.

    Both headlamps had to be replaced, which were around 200 Euro a piece, and labour and the rest of it...

    There is no substitute for an NCT. It makes sense getting a mechanic to look at a car that has an NCT and might be half way though it's current NCT, as in there might be a year to go before you have to do it again, but take my best advice and get an NCT on that before you buy it.

    In the current market, the seller should have no issue with waiting a week to get the NCT sorted.


  • #4
    rasper
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 796 ✭✭✭rasper


    PaddyofNine wrote: »
    Can I pay a mechanic to come with me and give her the once over? How much would it be?
    :eek:

    Ya'd have to ask her


  • #5
    bazz26
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 51,364 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    Darragh29 wrote: »
    Just some advice OP, if it hasn't got an NCT, put a deposit on it and tell the seller you'll proceed with the transaction when it has an NCT. I've seen more people coming into my garage with stories about buying privately and being told that everything was grand, only to go for the test and theres an emissions problem or undeside rust problem and then you're into hundreds of Euro to sort these out.

    You can get an NCT in a week if you can take a cancellation and are prepared to ring them just after 8AM and just before 8PM. Their number is 1890 412 413, all you need is the reg number and the name and address of the current owner, ask for a cancellation and you should get one within a few days.

    Any mechanic can look at the car for you but if it hasn't got an NCT, unless he/she can check emissions, they can't clear the car for you from an NCT perspective. Same is broadly true for suspension and brake imbalance.

    Just an example, I had a customer who bought a car with no NCT on the understanding that "everything is grand, I've looked after it". It turned out that the adjustment mechanisms for both headlamps had been damaged by someone trying to adjust the beam with the wrong type of tool, someone had basically used a philips screwdriver to adjust a headlamp instead of an allen key and had distroyed the adjustment screw.

    Both headlamps had to be replaced, which were around 200 Euro a piece, and labour and the rest of it...

    There is no substitute for an NCT. It makes sense getting a mechanic to look at a car that has an NCT and might be half way though it's current NCT, as in there might be a year to go before you have to do it again, but take my best advice and get an NCT on that before you buy it.

    In the current market, the seller should have no issue with waiting a week to get the NCT sorted.

    I'd agree, the only reason I can think of why the seller has not put it through the NCT already is that they think it will fail for something major. Having a fresh NCT on the car will only enhance it's appeal to a potenial buyer, making it easier to sell which the seller should be doing in the current second hand market.

    If the owner has an issue getting it NCT'd then walk away. There are plenty of second hand cars for sale out there, you can afford to be particular.


  • #6
    PaddyofNine
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 348 ✭✭PaddyofNine


    That's a good idea, hadn't thought of that. So just to clarify do you mean give him a deposit and get HIM to put it through the test, or for me to do it. Also, he's asking two grand for the car - what kind of deposit would you offer?


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  • #7
    Darragh29
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,097 ✭✭✭Darragh29


    PaddyofNine wrote: »
    That's a good idea, hadn't thought of that. So just to clarify do you mean give him a deposit and get HIM to put it through the test, or for me to do it. Also, he's asking two grand for the car - what kind of deposit would you offer?

    To be honest Paddy, anyone selling a car in this climate without an NCT disc is kind of taking the pi*s. If this was a rare car, and it was hard to come across, I'd be inclined to offer him a small deposit, maybe a hundred or two hundred Euro, certainly no more than you can afford to lose and only if you really want to get this car. If it's something like a Ford Focus or VW Golf that are ten a penny, I'd be moving on to the next car for sale.

    I always advise people to get a mechanic to check a car, but if someone asked me to check a car without an NCT, I wouldn't do it because if that car fails the NCT for items that I cannot check on a forecourt, then I'm the biggest cu*t in the world. Even with an NCT, I'd still get it checked out.

    I had a customer who bought a car privately and it had an NCT, but afterwards he went to get the car valeted and the guy who did the valet found a business card stuck into the dash, very subtly just pointing out enough to cover the engine fault warning light. It didn't look like it was positioned to do this, it just looked like the business card had fallen down into the dash and a corner of it was blocking the engine warning lamp from being seen by the driver.

    Turned out that the man who sold the car obviously had it diagnosed and the cost of the part alone to resolve this issue was just under 500 Euro, so he came up with a way to hide the problem from the buyer, instead of coming clean and lowering the price to reflect the defect with the car. Once the deal was done, the buyer had no comeback whatsoever.


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